Masai Mara with Jonathan Scott, Entim 2018

Introduction

Important notice: Jonathan Scott will be joining you on this safari. Read more for all the details.

Each year during the dry season tens of thousands of wildebeest and zebras mass at favoured crossing places along the Mara River in Kenya’s fabled Maasai Mara Game Reserve. A river crossing is one of nature’s great spectacles and a highlight of any safari. C4 has reserved a small, intimate and private camp in the heart of the action in perhaps the best time of year to see this phenomenon.

This is C4 Photo Safaris eleventh consecutive year leading photo safaris in the Masai Mara. We have always believed in leading from the front and so for our 2018 season Jonathan Scott will be joining us for this entire safari. You will be hosted by this legendary wildlife photographer and conservationist who has spent 40 years documenting the ecosystem and its spectacular big cats.

Jonathan and his wife Angela are the only couple to have both won the overall BBC wildlife photographer of the year award as individuals; they have written numerous books on the Mara and have produced many TV shows. The most well known being BBC’s Big Cat Diaries which was a worldwide success. Their latest book Sacred Nature: Life’s Eternal Dance (HPH) won the Gold Award for Photography in the IPPY Book Awards 2017.

Jonathan will be joining us to share his love of the Mara, inspire, educate and present talks on conservation and photography in what is essentially, his second home. You will have unprecedented opportunity to enjoy time with one of the Masai Mara’s most respected educators, learning from his experiences, sharing his company and being inspired by his passion and enthusiasm

The Mara is home to the ‘greatest wildlife show on earth’, and C4 are proud to be offering the best photo safari at the heart of the action. Its simple really - find a camp in the perfect setting, book it for 6 photographers with the premier photo camp operator and then have C4’s professional photographers personally guide you whilst on safari. C4 guides have more than 30 seasons in the Mara and they have mapped their own special places and secret spots to share with you.

There is so much to see and photograph and with C4’s professional wildlife photographers as your guides you will always have the best positions available. You will not only get to experience the migration, but also the beauty, freedom and wilderness of one of Africa’s greatest ecosystems.

On this safari, there will be 3 vehicles with a maximum of 2 clients per long wheeled based vehicle, ensuring that everyone has ample room to photograph from. In addition, you will have one C4 Photo guide with you at all times. This is the greatest benefit of an exclusive Mara Safari. You have ample space in a vehicle and are constantly guided by one of the three C4 Photo Safaris guides.

C4 Photo Safaris have negotiated a camp right in the heart of the action, in the middle of the Mara. The camp has a major Wildebeest crossing right in front of it, so you may be lucky to have a crossing while enjoying lunch one day!

Key Points:

The camp is inside the Masai Mara reserve within a view of a main crossing point.

You are just 10 minutes from the main crossing points and 20 minutes from the other crossing points. Many camps are at least 60 minutes from these central areas.

The camp is positioned between the two main rivers- the Talek and Mara rivers, meaning easy and fast access to the most productive game viewing areas.

C4’s wildlife photographers who know the Masai Mara eco system exceptionally well will personally guide you.

Our driver guides have been working with C4 Photo Safaris for 10 years now. They have an excellent knowledge of working with C4 Photo groups and can anticipate the best positions for photography.

No gate restrictions or racing for the gate during the best hours of light. (All gates close at 18h30, and as most camps are outside the reserve, vehicles must leave the reserve) Our camp is inside the Mara.

We will have 3 x Land Cruisers for our use. There will be 2 photographers per vehicle. Non-photographers can share the same bench as the photographer, or sit in the front seat. 6 clients are the maximum we will accommodate on the safari. A C4 Photo guide will be with you on each drive.

The camp is a permanent tented camp with flush toilets and hot water showers.

There is a battery bank and silent generator for charging batteries and laptops.

The camp has a studio tent with 2 iMacs for help in downloading your images as well as many plug points for charging your batteries.

Jonathan Scott will be joining for the entire safari. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet, learn from and be inspired by one of the

Africa’s most influential conservationists and photographers.

Notes:

For each tour, we have organised a minibus that will take our cargo luggage from the Serena hotel in Nairobi to the Camp and back again upon return. This alleviates the weights restrictions in the below point.

The entire weight limit for the internal flight is 15kg. This is strictly enforced by SafariLink.

We have provided the transport for the cargo luggage to the Camp. It is up to you to ensure you are within the limits for the internal flights. You will be liable for any excess weight.

There are camera support bags in the camp. If you would like to bring your own bag to fill with rice or sand, we will provide rice.

For all arrival transfers there will be a sign “C4 Photo Safaris” typed on a name board that the driver will hold up.

It is very important to get your yellow fever injection and certificate. It should be done no later then 2 weeks before your trip. It is valid for 10 years, so if you have had one done, you should just remember to bring the certificate.

On all our tours we may ask participants to rotate seats in the vehicles, taking it in turn to sit in the more popular seats in the front and the less popular ones in the rear. This requirement applies to everyone. If there is some reason why you can’t take your turn in the back of a vehicle (e.g. a bad back or travel sickness) please inform our office at the time of booking to see if we can accommodate you. We regret that anyone failing to inform us of such limitations before the tour will be expected to rotate seats in the same way as everyone else.

Itinerary

Day 1

Serena Hotel, Kenya.

Arrive in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi in the early afternoon. A 45-minute road transfer will take you to the African elegance of the Serena hotel. You will spend the evening in the lush and open surrounds of the Serena Hotel. One of Nairobi’s original hotels, this hotel has all the comforts of the past with the convenience of the modern era: The perfect place to relax for the evening. Our C4 photo safari guide will make contact with you at the hotel to arrange dinner for the photography group and discuss the logistics of the following morning.

Day 2 - 8

Entim Private Explorer Camp, Kenya.

We depart for the Masai Mara at 10am on a scheduled flight and we touchdown at Ol-Kiombo Airstrip after a short 1-hour flight. From there we are transferred by road to our base camp situated in the actual Mara itself. You will be staying in a classic East African style safari camp consisting of canvas tents, staffed by local Maasai. You will have en-suite bathrooms with flush loos, flowing water and hot showers. While traditional, the camp is comfortable with large beds and private verandah’s. That afternoon we will enter the reserve for the first time and sample one of Africa’s greatest ecosystems.

For these five full days, we will focus on showing you the best of the Masai Mara and this will include tracking the migration and getting to the heart of the action. You will be taken out each morning at first light. We will have Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles with roof top hatches and large windows from which to photograph. Each client will have their own row in the vehicle with open windows and hatch, ensuring that everyone has ample room to photograph from. Brackets, braces and clamps can be fixed onto the rails on the vehicles for tripod heads and flash brackets. Everything is designed to aid your photographic enjoyment.

Depending on how and where the migration is moving, we might spend whole days in the reserve taking a picnic lunch along with us. We will find the best crossing points on the Mara River and spend pleasant hours watching the wildebeest mass on the banks with hungry crocs waiting below. If we are patient enough and fortune favours us, we will witness a wildebeest crossing, arguably the most spectacular wildlife event on the planet. Beside the actual visual spectacle, the noise of the crossing is something that will never be forgotten. Besides tracking and following the migration, we will search for as many predators as possible,including cheetah, as the great plains are home to these majestic cats. You will also enjoy unfamiliar sights of general game such as Topi standing aloft termite mounds and tiny shy dik dik’s going about their daily routine. The Mara also houses some of the largest buffalo bulls on the continent and a huge density of raptors. A special for birders, amongst others, is the large and relatively common Rupell’s griffon.

Our time in the Masai Mara will not just be about the wildlife though. We will take you to seldom-visited parts of the ecosystem and indeed right up to the southern boundary where the Masai Mara and Serengeti adjoin. Here, there is little human traffic, and we will enjoy the peace and quiet of the great plains as well as some private game viewing. This element of our safari is unique as most safari operators concentrate all their efforts on the river but we feel that by combining superb game viewing with a wilderness experience, we will offer our guests the very best of the Masai Mara.

The evenings will be spent sitting around the camp fire and dining on excellent camp cuisine. As the coals die down, the warm camp beds beckon and everyone retires to bed. The aim of this photo safari is to help you take amazing photographs and improve your own photography, no matter what level of photographer you are. The C4 photo guides will help you and during the safari will also present a series of photo critiques, Lightroom and other slide show sessions in the evenings. These are always immensely popular and helps our clients gain some insight into the skill levels and experience of our guides- who easily impart their knowledge to you.

Should you have any other specific requirements, you are welcome to ask for your guides expert advice.

Day 8

Nairobi, Kenya.

After a last morning game drive, we return to camp for a hearty brunch before departing to the airstrip at 12h00 where we return to Nairobi. A transfer back to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport/your hotel concludes the safari. Most of the international flights depart in the early evening and this fits with most connections. This is unfortunately the end of the tour and another special package from C4 Photo Safaris.C4 Photo Safaris look forward to hosting you in the Mara for the greatest wildlife show on the planet.

Acommodation

Serena Hotel

Justly famed for its exceptional standards of efficiency, service and five-star hospitality, the elegantly sophisticated Nairobi Serena is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World group and is consistently voted ‘Best Hotel in Nairobi’ by airlines and international travel magazines alike. Despite its pivotal central location, the Serena Nairobi hotel remains true to its title and offers an oasis of serenity amidst the bustle of one of Africa’s most vibrant capital cities.

The Nairobi Serena Hotel offers a number of dining experiences, and a selection of bars, coffee shops and café areas, both inside and out. The hotel also features a dedicated resident’s lounge: The Bambara Lounge, which offers a café service, newspapers and private seating throughout the day. Or try our restaurant in Nairobi, the Mandhari, renowned for the excellence of its seasonally inspired menu and extensive wine cellars. An internationalized buffet breakfast and lunch are served in the Moroccan-styled Café Maghreb, which also features a table d’hôte dinner menu and 24-hour brasserie service.

Entim Private Camp

Entim meaning “forest” in Maasai is discreetly tucked on the edge of the riverine woodlands. From the shaded seclusion of this attractively designed camp, guests can relax in luxury and admire unforgettable views over the Mara River and across expansive plains, with the distant backdrops of undulating escarpments and volcanically-sculpted hills. From the veranda of each tent it is even possible to witness the breath taking sight of thousands of Wildebeest crossing the river during their annual migration through this vast wilderness area. We have kept the camp eco-friendly and small, with only ten, tastefully but differently furnished, well-equipped tents. Our decor aims to enhance the surrounding environment.

Only 3 minutes away from the Entim Main camp with its private access is the Private camp with only 08 luxury tents. We will have the whole camp to ourselves, be far removed from other tourist areas and lodges yet still in the heart of the action. The tents are large luxury accommodation, with en-suite bathrooms and flush toilets. You will need to learn the phrase “duo maji moto”, or “two hot waters” for your two hot water evening buckets for your shower. This is the classic Hemingway styled safari. No luxury is spared, yet you are as far removed form any tourism, as Hemingway was. With your own view of the Mara River, there is no better place to be in the Masai Mara. Meals, prepared in traditional East African safari style by the camp chef, are taken in the large Mess Tent or under the stars. There will be a generator with battery bank to charge laptops and batteries. The central tent will be the area from which to download and edit photographs during the quiet hours of the day or after your day’s safari.

CUISINE

Picnic lunches can be taken on longer game drives and enjoyed al fresco, while out exploring this vast and diverse area. Early evenings can be enjoyed over sundowner drinks in discreetly selected spots away from camp; or after a game drive and hot shower, around the campfire. The dining area offers a more intimate setting for our delicious home-cooked meals. We have a selection of house wines from the famous wineries of South Africa. Bread, cakes and pastries are all baked in camp, while fresh produce is flown in regularly. We aim to produce healthy, balanced and enticing menus, and are happy to cater to your individual requirements. If you wish you can dine privately on your own veranda, whilst enjoying the personal service of our helpful, well-trained staff.

Flights

Day 1

Arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya. You will be met by a Serena Hotel representative and you will then be transferred to Serena Hotel for one night stay.

Day 2

After breakfast you will be transferred to Wilson Airport for your scheduled flight into the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Upon arrival in the Maasai Mara you will be transferred to Entim Main Camp for your 6 nights stay.

Day 8

After your last game drive and breakfast at Entim you will be transferred back to the Airstrip for your scheduled flight back to Wilson Airport. From here you will be transferred back to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in time for your international flight. This is the end of your safari.

30% deposit confirms your booking

Maximum of 6 clients, there will be 3 vehicles with 2 clients per vehicle. There will be three C4 Guides that will rotate between the three vehicles.